Latest Advances in Retina Treatments for Vision Loss

There have been many advances over the years for the treatment of vision loss and, at the forefront of the new treatments is Dr Thomas Shane, an eminent ophthalmologist and practicing vitreoretinal surgeon. Dr Shane served as the Chief Resident and Director of the Ocular Trauma Service at Bascom Palmer and is board certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology. He is the founder of Retina Care Consultants.

The practice, Retina Care Consultants P.A.,run by Dr Thomas Shane, serves the communities of Saratoga and Bradenton in Florida and is widely known throughout the state of Florida as well as further afield. The practice has two consulting rooms, that which is situated in downtown Sarasota and the other conveniently located Tamiami Trail Sarasota, Florida. His practice staff are dedicated in making sure patients are treated with the utmost Courtesy, compassion as well as respect.

A brand new and advanced treatment for vision loss includes the development in imaging technology. This is commonly referred to as Optical Coherence Tomography or OTC. By using this OTC imaging photography, surgeons and ophthalmologists have been able to visualize any changes in the eye resulting in earlier threatened retinopathy. There are also some newer treatments which involve the injection into the retina to reduce swelling. This new method leaves no significant traces or burns as do the lasers.

Dr Shane’s best comment is asking patients “Have you ever been told there is a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow?” We all know that rainbows do not exist as tangible objects in the world, instead, it is an image created by the retina in the eye, a wonderful and delicate structure. The retina is responsible for all the color we see in our world and therefore, one could unanimously say it is worth a pot of gold. Understanding the structure of the retina, we could say it is similar to the inside lining of a basketball. It has the surface area of a silver dollar and has 150 million cells called photoreceptors. These photoreceptors create images, translate the colors and send the image, possibly akin to the most complex transmission nerve impulse system, as IT professionals might call it, to the brain where it is interpreted and where they are processed into images. We have, so far, been unable to manufacture a processor anywhere like our brain and probably never will. These signals are interpreted and are exactly replicated into the picture the eye sees.

Receiving and processing such a tremendous amount of information continuously, the eye therefore requires the best possible blood flow. Unless that blood flow and pressure remains constant the eye will deliver these images. Upset those blood and pressure parameters slightly and the image is distorted or broken altogether resulting in poor or no sight.

The very latest in repair techniques to the retina are by injecting directly into the retina to reduce swelling. One such medication is the FDA approved ranubizumab (Lucentisc) and is specifically for this purpose. Some similar medicines are thought to have the same effects. Eye tests revealed that, by the injection of this medication into the retina, diabetic patients were able to read more lines on an eye chart.MicroPulseTM Lasers use shortened light impulses which do not burn the retina. These clinical trials have not yet been completed. The Retina Care Consultants P.A. are considered to be in the forefront of retina care available today.